Optical, digital coax or RCA....can of worms ?

[ziggy47]

Hi,
I'm looking for some advice regarding the best option to connect my amp, dac/headphone amp & cdp.
As you can see from my system in my signature, I now have an amp with options of analogue and digital.
The amp was the last to be changed and for the CDP input, it seems to recommend coax.
All 3 items have DACs, so I know I can play around, but I'm hoping so of you esteemed members have done the 'leg work' already.
Plus I have a 0.5m Chord C-line rca lead, is this different than a C-line digital coax ?
thanks in advance for some constructive help
RSJ

[mikmas]

Generally coax seems to come out on top for me but always find it a case of 'suck it and see'.

Some pairings can surprise me if I swap coax with opt or usb but also think there may be something of 'the shock of the new' (or expectation bias.... :sofa: )

[DSJR]

The speakers you have will exaggerate any small differences too and as I remember, weren't really geared for 'digital' sources unless they're perfectly behaved, so proceed with caution here to prevent lost fillings and/or bleeding ears ;) Some amps with built in DACs (some Yamaha's I recall) have pretty dire sounding digital inputs and a sub £100 headphone/DAC type recommended here and there can 'sound' better fed to the analogue inputs. Only thing is for you to make some kind of plan and procedure for experiment and see if you can hear anything if you change things.

These days, I believe the differences between SPDIF, USB and optical digital inputs may well be more due to any shit coming down the electrical connections and whether the DAC can deal with this. Connecting a PC it has been recommended to use the optical connection to offer electrical isolation. My own shit here, I can't tell any meaningful difference between SPDIF and optical and my workroom PC is fed to the DAC via a USB cable and a USB-SPDIF converter that used to be available for twenty quid - sounds amazing to me, but your mileage may vary on this..

Good luck - try to be as methodical as possible but don't get anal about it. It's the music and NOT the sound when all's said and done :)

[Werner Berghofer]

David,
I can't tell any meaningful difference between SPDIF and optical […]you have excellent ears, because actually there’s no difference between S/PDIF and optical ;-)

S/PDIF is the parent term for the software interface, the logical protocol. The physical data transfer can be done via an electric, asymmetric 75 Ω coaxial as well as optical form. The optical connection is also known as ”Toslink“.

Personally I think the best way to connect a computer to a DAC is via the optical connection.

Werner

[wee tee cee]

I would go with a glass optical-fisual do reasonably priced glass cables.

[mikmas]

fisual do reasonably priced glass cables.

Were they actually glass?
Tried a few of their models (including Hollywood) but have never found anything confirming the core material on the Avopro website.
Also seem to have cut down the range quite a bit - what is available is still great VFM though, particularly as they have quite a few on offer at the moment.

[wee tee cee]

Fisual stuff is bang for buck spot on.

Mark Grant used to sell an ALL GLASS CABLE- took on all comers in bake offs this neck of the woods-YMMV

[bobvfr]

Hope no one minds me going slightly OT.

Werner, how did you put that link to your Skype profile in your message?

[Werner Berghofer]

Bob,
Werner, how did you put that link to your Skype profile in your message?Main menu: Settings > Edit Profile > Optional Information: Skype Name

[Gazjam]

Maybe not so relevant to your own direct situation, but found XLR/AES to be noticably the best sounding digital connection.
Ovwr toslink and spdif, I’d go Spdif, but get a good screened digital cable.

[Werner Berghofer]

Ovwr toslink and spdif, I’d go Spdif […]This statement is imprecise and incorrect. You can not compare a data format and software protocol (S/PDIF) with two different types of physical connection: either electric 75 Ω using a 3.5 mm RCA plug (coax) or optical with corresponding cables, plugs and sockets (Toslink).

[Gazjam]

This statement is imprecise and incorrect. You can not compare a data format and software protocol (S/PDIF) with two different types of physical connection: either electric 75 Ω using a 3.5 mm RCA plug (coax) or optical with corresponding cables, plugs and sockets (Toslink).

Aware of the technical differences Werner.

They both are digital connections to a Dac, my ears can hear music from them both.
Think the OP was asking more for subjective opinions from forum members on which one they thought sounded better.

That was mine. :)

[Werner Berghofer]

Gaz,

Aware of the technical differences Werner.these are not technical differences, but semantic ones. You might be able to hear a difference between a data connection/transmission via an electrical 75 Ω coaxial (RCA) cable and an optical (Toslink) cable, but there simply cannot be any difference between Toslink and S/PIDF, as you claimed earlier:


Ovwr toslink and spdif, I’d go Spdif
I apologize for my possibly exaggerated preference for linguistic precison, but I’m admirer of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. ;-)

[Gazjam]

Was meaning Spdif as in coaxial connection...vs optical Toslink.
Both SPDIF as you said. :)


Wittgenstein You say...the Beery swine?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9SqQNgDrgg

[Sherwood]

Gaz,
these are not technical differences, but semantic ones. You might be able to hear a difference between a data connection/transmission via an electrical 75 Ω coaxial (RCA) cable and an optical (Toslink) cable, but there simply cannot be any difference between Toslink and S/PIDF, as you claimed earlier:


I apologize for my possibly exaggerated preference for linguistic precison, but I’m admirer of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. ;-)

I would suggest that the issue is one of nomenclature rather than semantics per se! :rolleyes:

[Werner Berghofer]

Geoff,
I would suggest that the issue is one of nomenclature rather than semantics per se! :rolleyes:that’s right, of course.

[Haselsh1]

For me in my system the best option is coax. I have tried optical and it wasn't good generating lots of drop outs however, that was quite a few years back with a Beresford DAC so it may be worth re-investigating it.

[Werner Berghofer]

I’m happy with S/PDIF via optical connection (Toslink), but my Macbook Pro and iMac don’t offer coaxial digital out. Toslink works without any dropout or other flaws, with various Beresford as well as Schiit DACs to which I switched later.

[Qwin]

Maybe not so relevant to your own direct situation, but found XLR/AES to be noticably the best sounding digital connection.
Ovwr toslink and spdif, I’d go Spdif, but get a good screened digital cable.

It pretty much depends on the individual kit, my Stello CD Transport has AES (XLR) and SPDIF (Coax) outputs plus i2s (BNC), I was surprised that Stello recommended the coax connection over the AES, but having tried both, I agree with their recommendation on this particular device.

I thought optical spdif was supposed to be more prone to jitter, so coax spdif is usually the better choice, all other things being equal?

Properly implemented, they all sound pretty good though, I wouldn't like to pick between any of them in a blind test, USB included.
So it boils down to how well each is implemented on your device/s as to whether there is any audible difference, rather than hard set rules, so a bit of suck it and see. :)

[ziggy47]

Thanks for all your comments